Video & DVD

cast away (2000, Fox), dir. Robert Zemeckis w/ Tom Hanks, Helen Hunt. Hanks stars as a FedEx employee stranded for four years on a desert island. This modern-day Robinson Crusoe tale works well when it focuses on Hanks's time on the island and falters when he returns to civilization. You'd imagine that watching a silent Hanks think would be a snore, but it's actually riveting, because you can't help but put yourself in his place and scrutinize all his survival decisions. The melodrama that unfolds between Hanks and former lover Hunt when he gets home is moving, but with better writing it could have been breathtakingly good. NNN

Big-screen rating: It's all Tom Hanks all the time, and he shows every bit of range here. NNN (JH)

o brother, where art thou? (2000, Buena Vista), dir. Joel Coen w/ George Clooney, John Turturro. Welcome to Homer's Odyssey, retold by way of Preston Sturges and filtered through the eyes of the wacked-out Coen brothers. Escaped convict Clooney, accompanied by two cohorts (Turturro and Tim Blake Nelson), makes his way home to keep his wife (Holly Hunter) from remarrying. Sure, it's light and relies on a cast of eclectic supporting characters to keep it moving, but, damn, that Clooney is mesmerizing. You can't take your eyes off him. When will this guy get the respect and megastar status he deserves? NNNN

Big-screen rating: Loopy, Coenesque. People attuned to the Coens' humour will enjoy it, but it won't convert non-believers. NNNN (JH)

there's only one jimmy grimble (2000, Seville), dir. John Hay w/ Lewis McKenzie, Robert Carlyle. Shy, 15-year-old Jimmy Grimble (McKenzie) turns into a football phenom when he puts on a pair of old boots given to him by a mysterious woman. This feel-good movie winks at the audience, letting us know it's a wish-fulfillment fantasy, but it's a touch annoying how obvious it is that everything's going to work out fine for the plucky lad. What's more interesting is the anti-Manchester United stance. Jimmy is a fan of Manchester City, the other football team that plays in the English town, and the movie takes pride is dissing the planet's most popular sports team. NN

waydowntown (2000, Odeon), dir. Gary Burns w/ Fab Filippo, Marya Delver. Four 20-something downtown Calgary office workers -- Filippo, Delver, Gordon Currie and Tobias Godson -- bet a month's salary on who can stay indoors the longest. On day 24 all hell breaks loose. The premise is cool -- it is possible never to stray outside -- and Burns brings us face to face with the hell of working at a job you hate. He has an ear for fast-paced, naturalistic dialogue and for casting young actors with both sex appeal and intelligence. NNN

Upcoming: The Pledge, Proof Of Life, Save The Last Dance, State And MainDude, Where's My Car?, Maelstrom, Unbreakable, You Can Count On Me

DVD pick of the week

written on the wind (1957, Criterion) dir. Douglas Sirk w/ Rock Hudson, Robert Stack. Layer upon frothy layer of glorious, whipped-up melodrama, Written On The Wind is Sirk's best argument for the pleasures of high trash. Hudson and Stack are best friends until Stack marries Lauren Bacall, finds out he's sterile and suspects Hudson of impregnating his wife. This is sweaty, bitchy Texas soap opera at its best. Dorothy Malone's squirming performance as the local nymphomaniac won her an Oscar and a legion of camp fans. And the film's scathing view of 50s family values makes it a hit with academics. Extras: liner notes by film scholar Laura Mulvey, trailers, production stills and lobby cards. 99 minutes. NNNN